WASHINGTON (Creators Syndicate) -- A largely overlooked, widely misinterpreted event in Moscow two weeks ago transformed the international conflict over the environment and growth.
On September 29, President Vladimir Putin was expected to open the World Climate Change Conference by announcing Russian ratification of the 1997 Kyoto global warming treaty. Instead, he gave an opposite signal.
Russia's ratification is needed to enforce Kyoto's global requirements for reduced greenhouse gas emissions, with vast economic consequences. Global warming "might even be good," cracked Putin. "We'd spend less money on fur coats." But like Sherlock Holmes's dog that didn't bark, what the Russian leader left unsaid was more important. He didn't say: we shall ratify.
Contrary to claims that Putin was just raising Moscow's asking price, his economic and scientific advisers made clear that Russia opposes Kyoto. The Bush administration is no longer so isolated in the world. A U.S.-Russian partnership against global warming zealots opens the way for a new alignment of nations.
President Bush affirmed two years ago that the U.S. would not ratify Kyoto, opening him to abuse at home and abroad. For the treaty's anti-growth constraints to go into effect, 55 nations responsible for at least 55 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions must ratify. So far, 119 ratifying nations account for 44 percent of emissions. Russia would have put the treaty over the top, even without the United States.
Almost everybody, anti-Kyoto as well as pro-Kyoto activists, expected the Russians to do just that two weeks ago. Fred L. Smith, president of the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, was as surprised by Putin's decision as the environmentalists.
The statement issued by Smith was euphoric: "This is the most important development in the public debate over global warming since President Bush's decision." Uncharacteristically, Washington-based environmentalist organizations have yet to issue any statements.
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http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/10/16/column.novak.opinion.russian/
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